About to participate in the most important track meet of his life, Williamson had better things to do than pick up an extra shift at the community pool in the Wildhorse subdivision of San Antonio, where he works as an attendant. But being a college student, he needed the money.

The 3-year-old boy Williamson revived via CPR late Sunday afternoon will be forever grateful he did.

Williamson, a former standout athlete at Cypress Woods, said he was still coming to grips with the experience as he traveled Monday to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. He is seeded fifth out of 24 athletes in the long jump, which begins Wednesday.

Williamson will at least be able to compete with a clear head after learning that the boy, who was rushed to North Central Baptist Hospital after being revived, is expected to recover.

"I would have been (distracted) if I knew the boy wasn't OK yet," said Williamson, a junior.

"Now that I know his parents are going to be able to see him grow up, I won't be worried about that. I'll be able to recover and do pretty well, I hope."

Williamson said the ordeal began at around 5 p.m., near the middle of his second seven-hour shift of the weekend. His typical responsibilities include mundane tasks such as pool maintenance and checking member tags at the gate.

"I don't really get to know the residents very well," said Williamson, who has been on the job little more than a month. "I'm just there to clean the pool."

Scary situation

He did much more than that, however, when the boy, unconscious and already turning blue, was pulled from the pool after being submerged for roughly a minute.

"It was pretty scary to see that," Williamson said. "It was a moment of just sheer fear, and it wasn't even my son. No one saw or heard him go in. He kind of snuck in."

Williamson spent three years as a lifeguard in high school, during which time he pulled two swimmers from the water. But never had he been forced to use his CPR training. Indeed, Williamson said he hadn't practiced in more than a year before Sunday's incident.

"When I heard him breathe," he said, "it was probably the greatest moment of my life. It was kind of like a miracle. It was like I knew exactly what to do."

One of the first people Williamson called after Sunday's incident was his grandmother, Bonnie Carr, who had inspired him at the start of the season to reinvigorate his career at UTSA after a lackluster outdoor season last spring.

He responded on all fronts, jumping 25 feet, 83/4 inches at last week's NCAA preliminaries to set a school record and finishing the year with a 3.71 GPA.

Work ethic lauded

His high school coach from Cy Woods, Mike Zachos, was not surprised by Williamson's recent successes.

"He was a heck of an athlete, very determined and very supportive," Zachos said. "He was not one of those guys that woke up and had God-given ability. He had some abilities, but he worked hard."

That work ethic gave Williamson the tools to turn things around.

"I was lacking discipline in the places it was needed," Williamson said. "I made a change, and things are going good now. It's always good to get rewards for trying hard and doing your best."

In more ways than one. Not only will Williamson be credited with a full shift after the pool closed early, the Wildhorse HOA gave him a bonus - one he hopes he never has to earn again.

"That's just the cherry on top," he said. "The biggest thing is that this boy is all right. I can only imagine his parents. They never came up and officially said thank you, but I know they're grateful.

"I'll probably see them when I'm back up at the pool. I still don't know their names. But maybe there's some kind of bond."